The term “teaching artist” is intentionally non-specific; we aim to include visual artists of all disciplines who teach in addition to their artistic practice, and consider teaching to be an essential element of their practice, whether by design or out of necessity. Allied Arts Foundation acknowledges and appreciates the special work and contributions of teaching artists, who share their talent and energy to pass on technical skills, methodologies, and ways of seeing and living. All forms of teaching are supported, including K-12, community art programs, and higher education; as long as applicants consider teaching a meaningful component of their artistic practice, they are welcome to apply.

THE AWARDS

The Allied Arts Foundation will award $5,000.00 unrestricted grants 
to three artists. This award is intended to facilitate artistic growth and experience.
 The Allied Arts Foundation seeks to encourage emerging artists and will limit
 awards to teaching artists in an early or mid-career stage, whose work is not currently represented by commercial galleries and/or in major museum exhibitions and collections.

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must be 18 or older, must live in Washington State and must not be currently enrolled in 
an educational institution as a student.

Your submissions are welcome whether instruction and discourse are defining components of your art practice, or you collaborate with the intention of teaching and learning from your students. A teaching certificate is not required. All visual art mediums are accepted.

APPLICATION

Applicants should submit images and materials that demonstrate both their artistic practice and their teaching experience. Educational materials can include programs, syllabi, lesson plans, and examples of student work. Please be prepared to 
provide three professional references or letters of support if requested.

To apply, artists must fill out the short Application Form at alliedartsfoundation.org, and include their name, email, and link to their submission portfolio, and pay a $20 application fee via Stripe. Submission fees help Allied Arts Foundation, a predominantly volunteer organization, administer this grant. If the fee prevents you from applying, however, please contact artistgrants@alliedartsfoundation.org for a waiver; we want this opportunity to be accessible to anybody who is eligible.

Additional contextual information such as Artist Resume or explanatory information regarding the artwork may be sent to artistgrants@alliedartsfoundation.org, but is not required.

Application deadline is 11:59PM Sunday, September 20th, 2026.

YOUR PORTFOLIO

Your online portfolio should contain either direct links to the artworks, or the actual artworks themselves. Jury members will spend no more than five minutes per artist on their initial review of submissions. Portfolios may take the form of an online file folder (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc), website link, webpage link, social media platform link, or other easy access digital links. Artworks must be accessible without the creation of a paid account or an invitation-only account.

MERIT BASED AWARD

These awards will be based on artist portfolios. You do not have to submit a project, budget, or needs statement. Awarded funds are unrestricted and may be used at the artist’s discretion.

AWARD TIMELINE

Applications will be accepted from Friday, August 14th, until Sunday, September 20th, at 11:59pm.

The selection panel will choose 15 finalists on Sunday, September 27th. AAF will contact these finalists to ask for references/letters of support, to be emailed to artistgrants@alliedartsfoundation.org by Oct. 9 at 11:59pm.

The selection panel will meet to determine the award recipients on Sunday, October 18th, and notify them on Monday, October 19th.

QUESTIONS / CONTACT

Email us at artistgrants@alliedartsfoundation.org.